Search This Blog

Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

The reserve and Pine Valley Mountains from the reserve's southeast boundary

Red Cliffs National Conservation Area (also known as Red Cliffs Desert Reserve) encompasses red rock formations on BLM land at the northern boundary of St. George and at the base of the 10,000'+ Pine Valley Mountains. The national conservation area was created in 2009 along with over 129,000 acres of BLM wilderness in Washington County, Utah. Two of the wilderness areas, Cottonwood Canyon and Red Mountain, are within the reserve.

Cottonwood Canyon

Other than the red rock canyons and cliffs, the reserve was formed because it is the the most northeastern section of the Mojave Desert. Many animals that are rare to Utah can be found within the reserve, including sidewinder rattlesnakes, Gila monsters, verdins, chuckwallas, and the threatened desert tortoise.

Cottonwood Canyon

There are over 130 miles of non-motorized trails within the reserve that go to a variety of areas and can be used for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. Maps can be found on the reserve's website. This is a very interesting area with far fewer visitors than nearby Zion National Park. The weather in mid-March was fantastic and in the 70s, but it is very dry year round with no water available within the reserve, and temperatures average over 100 degrees in the July. Also see my post on the adjacent Quail Creek State Park.

Post a Comment

Popular posts

The Precipice is perhaps the best and most challenging trail in Acadia National Park. The trail ascends nearly 1000 feet up the vertical eastern face of Champlain Mountain. I did this hike on a chilly and windy November day when there only a couple other people in the park and none on this trail.

The trail begins at the Precipice trailhead on the Park Loop Road south of Bar Harbor. The trail begins gaining some elevation for a short distance until you reach the bottom of the cliff. Next comes the best part of the hike when you reach ladder rungs inserted into the granite of the cliff. You also have to walk along several narrow exposed cliff edges, only a few of which have railings, in order to reach each following set of ladders.

The views from this trail are fantastic and are well worth it. During my visit the prevailing winds were coming from the w…

Distance: 4.8 miles (7.8 km) round trip
Summit elevation: 5,785 ft (1,763 m)
Elevation gain: ~1,500 ft (457 m)
Date: March 16, 2011
Angel's Landing in Zion National Park in southwest Utah is one of the most spectacular hikes in North America. The short trail ascends to the rock formation in the middle of Zion Canyon and has sections were the trail is only a few feet wide while there are 1,500 foot vertical drops on both sides.

The trail is accessed from the Grotto and follows the Virgin River for the first half mile before rapidly ascending into Refrigerator Canyon, which can have air temperatures ten degrees cooler than the surrounding area. At the upper end of the canyon begins the ascent to Scout Lookout through a series of 21 consecutive switchbacks known as Walter's Wiggles.

Scout Lookout can be safely accessed year round, although there will likely be ice on Walter's Wiggles in winter. From here to the summit of Angel's Landing it is very dangerous when snow…

On my last full day in Azerbaijan, I went on a day trip to Qabala in the north-central part of the country on the southern edge of the Caucasus Mountains. Qabala is the oldest city in the country, and today the city's economy is dependent on tourism.

The trip by bus took about three hours from Baku and began in the desert along the Caspian Sea before gradually climbing into the grasslands and eventually forests and mountains. After passing through the city of Shamakhi, the road narrowed and descended a winding route into a deep valley, across a mostly dry river, and back up the other side. We stopped for lunch at a place along another mostly dry river just outside the east side of Qabala.

After lunch we went to Nohur Lake, a scenic lake at the base of the mountains that had been overrun with kids celebrating their last day of school. By the time we reached Qabala, it was already late afternoon, so we didn't have time to v…

Guadalupe Peak at 8,751 feet is the highest point in Texas and located in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in far west Texas just south of the New Mexico border and about 100 miles east of El Paso. Guadalupe Peak sits at the southern edge of the Guadalupe Mountains, which is an exposed ancient limestone reef, which has led to the formation of the 116 known caves just to the north in Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

The Guadalupe Peak trail begins at the trailhead by the Pine Springs campground and steadily gains elevation for all 4.2 miles to the summit. Water is available at the trailhead, and it is important that you take at least one gallon per person per day with you from this point as there is no water along the trial. The park is in the Chihuahuan Desert, so conditions…

Distance: 2 miles one way
Elevation gain: 1487 feet
Location: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Date: April 30, 2014

The Chimney Tops is one of the most popular hikes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Road Prong Trail begins along Newfound Gap Road (the main park road southeast of Gatlinburg) and immediately crosses the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River via a footbridge. Over the course of the next 0.9 mile the trail steadily gains several hundred feet of elevation and crosses the Road Prong (name of a stream) a few times before reaching its intersection with the Chimney Tops Trail.

The Chimney Tops Trail turns uphill from the main valley and follows a small stream for about a half mile as you steeply climb above an elevation of 4000 feet. Just below the top of the trail, you reach the Chimney Tops feature, which is an exposed rock ridge that requires some class 3 scrambling to reach the 4753-foot summit. If it's wet, then the rock can be slippery, but o…